New Life Thrift — Local services in Abington Township

Of all of the places I'd expect to get viscerally cursed out, a church thrift shop is not one of them. Absolutely avoid under all circumstances.

Over the course of the last several years, my family and I have given this organization several thousand dollars, conservatively estimating, in antiques, gently used furniture, and nearly new toys and collectibles, to say nothing of the money we've spent purchasing from them. This morning, I drove up to donate a few pieces of high end art, one of which had a nick missing out of the frame - not a major break, but with a little glue, it could've easily been sold for a decent price. I stepped out of the car and greeted the masked kid who was accepting donations, and moments later, a man and two women walk out onto the loading dock. All three of their masks were down around their chins. The broken part of the frame must have been visible, because the man, whose name I later found out to be Pete, starts ranting and raving at me, screaming about how I'm a f&%#ing b%@#&, and how f&%$ing dare I bring trash to their store, and we don't accept junk, you a@#hole, and get the f%&# off their property with my s#%&. My jaw hit the pavement.

Once I was able to catch a breath, I explained that there was a little part of the frame that was broken, but I thought that it could be salvaged. After all, I explained, the painting depicted a church, and I didn't have the heart to throw it out as there might be someone who would enjoy displaying it. At that point, the blonde woman walked over toward me, and she starts shooing me with these large gestures and telling me to take my trash elsewhere because they weren't going to accept any of it. (At this point, I should mention that there's a half-empty dumpster not two steps away from my car... tell me again how you don't take trash?) All the while, Pete is pacing back and forth, into and out of the building, and I can hear him calling me all manner of epithets as he's huffing around in a rage, shrieking about how I'm an effing b-word. He was so loud that I'm sure the neighbors could hear him all the way up the block. Meanwhile, I'm standing there in a defensive position, hands up, saying, "I'm really sorry, I am, and I meant no disrespect. There's absolutely no need to scream at me! I've donated several thousand dollars worth of items here over the years, and we've been customers for a while," to which the brunette quipped, "We don't care how much you've donated. Take your s&%# and go."

The poor kid, still standing there awkwardly and holding the artwork, put it back into my car, told me to have a nice day, and I hopped in and left. I was so distraught afterward that I had to sit, parked, in Keswick Village for a solid fifteen minutes trying to get a grip before I was finally able to go home. I have never been so blatantly disrespected in my entire life - all at a thrift shop associated with a church! I know multiple people who go to the church itself, all of whom are lovely and perfectly Christlike, but Pete absolutely ruined that for me today. There's, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but we can't accept that," and then there's what happened to me. Lest the same should happen to you, I'd suggest you find another thrift store to patronize, as I'm sure they'll be more grateful than...

Obnoxious Christian Managers!!!!!!

I’ve been a faithful donator and customer for past several years; donated hundreds of books and tons of other stuff. Recently I experienced something I never imagined….. I bought a Bissell 3-in-1 hand vacuum Model No 38B1 for $15.00 + tax. It was my 3rd vacuum cleaner from this place. After I came home, I learned it is currently sold for $19.88 on line store, and mine was missing other two attachments. So, I went back to the store because I thought it was not a fair price. When I met and explained to “Store Manger”, he came along with his assistant. He took the merchandise for research. When he came back he said “At eBay store they are selling it for $39.99 and even if you buy missing parts it will be less than what it is.” What?!!!!!?? I even told him that at Walmart is selling for $19.88 and now he’s saying his price is from ebay so I should be happy with the price? Maybe his computer cannot access to Walmart? And he said “There is nothing I can do.” And he was about to walk a way. At that moment, I heard his assistant was murmuring with a faint voice, so, I asked him “What did you say, I couldn’t hear.” And this assistant said “You can give us the merchandise back(as a donation) or you can take it back with you.” I was so stunned! Do I look this cheap over a $15.00? For past several years, I have helped this organization, and this is happening. Oh, my Lord! So, without any hesitation, I gave them the merchandise, donated it.

And I asked for their Manager, and these two young men said, “There is no manager above us.” And they both walked away. It was not hard to find their manager, there was an Operational Manager on site. And I met and talked to her the problem and she promised me she will get back to me after investigating the situation. I emailed her the website where I found the price. Two days later, I received email back from her saying, “Would you resend your letter? It was inadvertently deleted this morning.” If then, how she found out my email address? It was kind of odd….. So, I called her and we started talk about it, and minutes later she mentioned that “Nobody forced you to purchase the merchandise here!” I was stabbed this time. They were both Christians and this place is as they proudly saying “Non Profit Organization for the Community” What a pathetic managers.......

When I shared these experiences with other people working there, they all shook their heads and said “Sorry for your experience”

From now on, I don’t think I will donate a thing to this...

I had to do 2 double takes to make sure one, I was in a THRIFT STORE, and two, that this store was affiliated with a CHURCH! My reasons being the prices are insane. On everything. I do not embellish. Each and every item I looked at was laughably over priced for second hand pricing. Examples: PU Steve Madden purse- $40. No signed, generic, figurine- $15. Brooks Brothers collared shirt- &12. Rudimentary basket- not a special brand- $9. At one point I found myself honestly pondering how this store remains in business. I thrift all up and down the east coast. I feel qualified to say this store is grossly overpriced. Secondly the staff was exceptionally rude. I accidentally took my shopping cart between a row of furniture and was promptly chastised by an employee. I observed an elderly lady basically chased down by an employee because apparently she was had taken a figurine from one of the cases and was examining it as she moved away (with a buggy full of items I might add). The employee treated her instantly as if the lady was stealing the figurine and asked her if she intended to buy it. The lady said she could not see the price-her eyesight i was bad. The employee unaffectedly explained she would take it to the counter if the woman decided she wanted to buy it she could there. I was embarrassed for the lady honestly. I got the distinct feeling the employees just do not like some sorts of customers… I will leave it at that. At any rate, we will spend our thrifting money elsewhere, as...